


One Foot Right In Front of the Other

by FaunrastheWinterElf



Series: Keep Marchin' On [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Faunras is a mom, Gen, I logged back in to write this and it was gone, I've adjusted a lot of stuff, M/M, Multi, This is a crossover Idea, and stole the idea of Jinchuuriki From Naruto, reposting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24479767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaunrastheWinterElf/pseuds/FaunrastheWinterElf
Summary: I don't know how long it's been since I was woken up and dragged away from my chamber. Or how long I've been a captive. It's hard to stop and ask what year it is when I'm to busy when with keeping the kids safe and unseen from a force that practically controls the world. These kids gave me something to keep going for and I'll be damned if I lose them. I've just got put one foot in front of the other, I just have to keep going.
Series: Keep Marchin' On [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768192
Kudos: 1





	One Foot Right In Front of the Other

**Author's Note:**

> So.  
> I finally got motivated enough to come back to this fic, and my account had become orphaned :(  
> This used to be called New Places, but I've re-vamped a couple things, swapped around a couple more, and have decided to change things up a bit.
> 
> Things are drastically different now, but hopefully still a great read!

FAUNRAS

When the Tear opens, We are asleep.

We had forgone the tent, and the Hearth. It was a safe area, and a warm night, so there had been no need for a fire. We had simply curled up around each other and slept. Myself sprawled across the ground on my back, my bag cushioning my head. Manon curled up right on top of me, tiny as she is. Ryker to my left. Spread eagle and a solid foot dug into my side. Isolde was a small way away from my right, curled in a ball around her bag and the blanket she had fished out scrunched up as a pillow.  
The day had been spent stressfully hidden away in this clearing, listening and watching for any sign of our pursuers for the third day in a row. I had finally called the all clear, and declared us sleeping the night in the small clearing, surrounded by thick bushes and sheltered by a thick canopy.

Of course, since I had been, we all had been really, too tired to put up the wards, that meant that when the Tear ripped open the air right above Isolde, The precious few seconds we had to flee were wasted staring in shock and horror. In the back of my head, a vague thought wrapped around the magical presence of the Tear, recognized it, reached for it, before it began to suck up Isolde, and I snapped out of the hold the memory had had on me.  
By this point the only thing I had been able to do is curl around my youngest, with a hand on Ryker’s foot. The Tear began sucking up the ground as well, and by the time we got tugged towards it and through it, Isolde was gone. I hugged Manon tight, tighter still as I sobbed and realized with a sickening feeling, that as I was falling through whitegreenblackgoomagicemotion- 

I could no longer feel Ryker’s food in my side.

That was my last thought before I was suddenly spat out into the blue sky, a couple feet above a canopy of different trees, before I hit the ground on my back, and everything went black.

\-----------------------------

ISOLDE 

My hand hurt. Even before I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong with my hand. The sight of the green tear rippling in my palm, slowly spreading that same green through the veins in my hand, it scared me. It wasn’t till after, when my hand sparked and a flare of pain jolted through me, that I realized I was chained up. It wasn’t like when I was at the Black Knife Science Hall though. Someone had padded my wrists with cloth between the cuffs and my skin. I was also on a cot, and as I looked away from my hands, I caught sight of the four guards around me. None of them had weapons drawn, but one of them had a hand on his hilt.

Just as I was going to ask why I was here, In what looked like a jail area, but not in a cell, funnily enough, a door at the top of the stairs in front of me burst open. Two women, human by the looks of it, walked towards me.

The first was tall, with short black hair and a near invisible braid crowning her head, with intimidating armor and piercing eyes. She seemed angry, mad, but I couldn’t tell if it was at me or not.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now. The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you.” It was practically snarled at me, and she was beginning to scare me. There were so many thoughts in my head, and I couldn’t sort through them fast enough. The scary woman snatched up my wrist, the one with green light, roughly and shook it once in front of my face, jerking me out of my thoughts and she growled,

“Explain this!”

I gasp as the mark crackles a bit, tears welling up as I stammer through the pain,

“I..- I can’t!”  
“What do you mean, you can’t?“ is thrown in my direction as she drops my wrist, and I pull it back to my chest as tears slowly begin making their way down my face. I’m overwhelmed, there's so much going on, I want my family, I want Mamae.  
"I don’t know what that is or how it got there.” It’s not quite a sob, but my breathing is becoming heavier as the woman keeps staring at me, her face furious with my words.  
“You’re lying!” The black haired woman raises her hand, almost as if she was going to hit me, and I closed my eyes and flinched back, raising my arms above my head to protect myself, but before the slap could land I felt something impact against her metal gauntlet.  
“We need the girl, Cassandra.” The other woman was speaking, and as I looked up I saw her more clearly. Pale skin and orange red hair peeking out from under an armoured purple hood, blue eyes turning to settle an intense gaze on me. My breathing stuttered and I swallowed my sobs, trying to calm down. Her eyes soften, just a bit.  
“Do you remember what happened? How this began?” Her voice was a bit quieter, not the border line yell of Cassandra.  
“I was curled up next to Mamae In the forest, and then, I wasn’t? I was in a building, i think” My head begins to hurt, and I wince before moving on. “Then I remember running. Things were chasing me. And then… a woman...?”  
“A woman?” The red haired lady prompted me to keep going after I trailed off, brow scrunching as I tried to remember more.  
“She reached out to me, but then…” my words died, going quiet for several seconds, before shaking my head.  
“Then I woke up here, and my hand hurts.”  
Cassandra sighed, shaking her head as she moved towards me and began undoing the cuffs.  
“Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift.” I rub my wrists, not as bad as it could have been, due to the cloth, but still a bit numb, as Leliana nods at Cassandra, and makes her way out of the room without another word.  
“Miss Cassandra?” I looked towards her as she pulled me up to my feet. “What did happen?”  
“It will be easier to show you.” She has a small loop of rope in her hands, but as she eyes me, she looks at me, really looks, and her eyes go dark before she scowls and hooks the rope back on her belt. “Run, and I will have you killed.” She stares at me until I nod, then beckons me towards the stairs and leads me outside.  
The light blinds me for a moment, and when it finally clears up, I blink several times to try and clear the weird green haze, before looking up, and nearly falling to my knees as i took in the giant Tear in the sky, the sickly green rushing from it as it spreads slowly.  
“We call it the Breach. It’s a massive rift into the world of demons, The Fade, that grows larger with each passing hour. It’s not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave.” I turned my head towards her, bewildered and awed.  
“An explosion can do that?”  
“This one did. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” Cassandra looks very grim as she says this, and sad. Then I can’t really focus on her face, because the Breach expands and at the same time the light in my hand intensifies, sending a shooting, stabbing pain up towards my elbow, and my knees actually do give out as I fall, more tears slipping down my face.  
“Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this but there isn’t much time.”  
\-----------------------------

FAUNRAS

When I awoke it was to the sound of Manon’s voice begging me to wake up and help. My youngest had us wrapped up in a Magic Circle, and was desperately shaking me, as some, weird, white ghosts, glowing slightly green, circled the edges of the ward.

“Mae! Mamae, PLEASE,” I sat and reached for my focus as the sob ripped out her throat, already chanting the words to an explosive Firestorm, encircling her ward and incinerating the things. She continued crying, body wracked with heaving sobs as she calmed down from the fright and stress brought on by the encounter, her blind eyes not seeing what was happening, and having her only parent unconscious and unresponsive. I was loath to stay, the Tear was still above us, but seemed to be dormant? It was dark, and while it was still spinning and twisting, it did it much slower than when it sucked us all up. I gathered up by bag, still behind me thankfully, but couldnt see Manon’s. I didn’t bother looking further for it, I just gathered my smallest daughter in my arms and left.

I walked all day, not knowing where I was. When I stopped to cast Find the Path, the spell failed, even though I knew that the town of Heliae should have only been a day's walk away. It took the sun setting and us sheltering at the foot of a tree, inside the Hearth this time, for me to really accept what had happened. The Find the Path spell only failed if the targeted place was on a different plane of reality.

Manon stayed curled around me. She didn’t let me go, and I didn’t mind. I had no idea where my other children were, and this one was staying attached to me until I found them. I had Manon eat a small dinner of one of our rations. Some bread and cheese, a little cured meat and dried berries. I stayed on watch all night, only dipping into a meditation for the bare minimum of rest. I had to focus on my youngest. Have to keep her safe. My older two, Ryker and Isolde have some training, and have the Others with them. They will be safe. They have to be.

I push them to the back of my mind and feel a distant presence of /secrets/shhh/thereyouare/

\--------------------------

ISOLDE

Solas helps me down over the short drop before us, Cassandra and Varric having already dropped the small distance and walking forward a couple steps, surveying the area. He looks around as we begin approaching the ruined area, crumbling walls and rubble spread everywhere. I move closer to Solas, dagger hilts clutched tight in my hand as I survey the corpses and small fires.

“The Temple of Sacred Ashes.” There is a small amount of remorse in his statement, as he slides his gaze downwards from the massive Breach, and towards the destruction it caused.  
Varric’s voice is strained as he plays with his sleeve cuffs. “What’s left of it.”  
“That,” Cassandra is gesturing to an area beside a crumble wall, off to the side as we pass it,  
“ is where you walked out the Fade and our soldiers found you. They said a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.”  
There are a bunch of burned and still burning corpses and scattered bones. To many for me count, and as we pass them my stomach turns slowly. They thought I had done this. I turned my head away, keeping my eyes off the corpses as much as we could.  
As we pass into what's left of what might be a hallway, we pass another two corpses. They’re holding onto each other, and one is small. Tears well in my eyes as I stare and wonder where my family is. My mother and baby sister and older brother. We had all been sleeping together, that was the last thing I remember, and I find myself hoping to any and all gods that they weren’t here when the Temple blew up. A feeling from the back of my head, /They’refine/IcanfeelNatureMotherHearthKeeperSunFather/theyarefar/, and I relax slightly, sniffling and wiping my eyes with the back of my hand as my eyes swivel towards Varric as he speaks.  
“The breach is a long way up.” He’s eyeing the substantial distance between us on the ground, and the Breach in the sky as he says this.  
A familiar voice from behind us interrupts before anyone can respond, accompanied by several footsteps.  
“You’re here! Thank the Maker.”  
Almost immediately, Cassandra turns away from the burnt railing in front of us and her survey of the area “Leliana,” a look of relief spreads across her face as she takes in the sight of her friend, “have your men take up positions around the temple.”  
Leliana nods and begins walking away, giving directions and suggestions to the men and women behind her, all in rough leather and fur armor, and most armed with bows and arrows.  
“This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?”  
I hadn’t noticed Cassandra turning her attention towards me, but when she asked her question I looked at her briefly before looking back up towards the Breach.  
“I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can reach that, much less close it.” I’m fiddling with one of my daggers as I say this, nervously picking at the end of the leather wrapping. Solas’ voice cuts in, soothing and direct as always,  
“No. This rift was the first and is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach.”  
“Then let’s find a way down. And be careful.” Cassandra and Leliana begin making they’re way towards a small doorway that seems to lead around most of the rubble, and we follow after them. Leliana stops just past it, finding a good spot for herself and unstringing her bow from her back, nodding at me as I pass.  
A booming voice startles me as I take a step down a slightly crumbling pathway, and I slip as it rings out, sliding a bit down the incline.  
“Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice.” the voice echoes over itself, deep and commanding, and coming out of nowhere.  
We all slow down, listening intently, only moving again as no more voices echo out from nowhere. Cassandra seems particularly troubled by it  
“What are we hearing?”  
Solas is the one to respond, gesturing with his staff as he points upwards,  
“At a guess: The person who created the Breach.”  
As we pass a rock that's jutting outward, a bit of ceiling that had collapsed onto the rail, two archers take up position, speaking quietly to each other as we continue making our way downwards. We round the corner and Varric hisses out an exclamation as we near large red crystals jutting out of the ground to the right.  
“You know this stuff is red lyrium, Seeker.”  
Cassandra is agitated by the announcement and responds tightly.  
“I see it, Varric.”  
“But what is it doing here?” Varric’s voice is almost an accusation now, hushed and fearful as we begin to pass it, and he plants himself between me and the Red Lyrium.  
“Magic could have drawn on the lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it…” Solas trails off as he leans slightly closer, inspecting the base, and Varric becomes particularly vehement about keeping us moving, and away from it, pushing slightly on my back when I slow down to wait for Solas.  
“It’s evil. Whatever you do, don't touch it.”  
“Keep the sacrifice still.” The loud voice rings out again, and sounding demanding, I jump as a second, newer voice rings out. Femine, but older, and desperate.  
“Someone help me!”  
“That is Divine Justinia’s voice!” Cassandra exclaims it, looking around as if she’d find the Divine, and her face falls as she doesnt. We keep moving down the crumbled corridor. At the end of it is a stairway. Leading down towards the rift, but the end of it is destroyed, so the last bit is another small jump. It’s a small jump, but as my feet hit the ground, the mark flares, and I stumble, falling to my knees again as the voice rings out again.  
The voice of the Divine rings out again, doubling over itself at the beginning  
“Someone help me!”  
“What’s going on here?” My own voice is a surprise, solid, with no echo, as it ripples out.  
“That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you. But…” Cassandra is approaching me slowly, reaching out to help me up, but gets distracted as a light flashes.  
The voices begin repeating. This time, however, it is accompanied by imagery, rising out of the green strings of Magic and creating illusory, ghostly imagery. An older woman, dressed in robes similar to Chancellor Roderick’s, Is floating while being held in place by red energy wrapped around her arms. A large dark figure with glowing red eyes looms over her. An image of myself runs through an invisible doorway, arm pushing open a door or curtain as I shout the question. My double looks distressed, and her eyes widen as she takes in what’s happening before her.  
“What’s going on here?” my voice is trembling as she reapers herself, and I can see the ghostly image take a step back as the Divine looks towards my double.  
“Run while you can! Warn them!”  
The large shadowy figure turns his glowing red eyes towards my double, speaking a command to someone,  
“We have an intruder.”  
It almost appears to sneer, his voice full of disdain as it booms out, louder than before, even though the images disappear as he commands someone to “Slay the elf.”  
Everything is quiet for a moment as we all take in what just happened, and I’m still on my knees as Cassandra grabs my upper arm and hauls me upwards, face furious as she shouts,  
“You were there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”  
“I- I don’t remember!” my arm is wrenched up near my ear, and I tug it back unsuccessfully, and Cassandra releases me in disgust after staring at my face for a second. She turns away in a huff, walking away from me as Solas speaks up.  
“These are echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place.” He watches Cassandra carefully, before turning towards me and Varric, who has planted himself by my side, eyeing my arm as I rub at it, Bianca in hand.  
“This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily. I believe with the mark, the rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely.” His voice isn’t very loud, but still draws Cassandra’s attention from her brooding as he continues.  
“However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side.”  
“That means demons. Stand ready!” she is snarling, directing the few soldiers that have joined us into position around the rift as Solas guides me towards the rift, Varric beside us. My hand is guided up, and Solas begins instructing me.  
“Just like closing it, da’len, but tug it, imagine it opening instead of closing”  
The soldiers and archers get ready. Shifting nervously as I stare at the rift, tentatively lifting my hand..  
“I’m not little,” I’m frowning as I say it, concentrating too hard to realize I hadn’t spoken Common. but then the Mark connects with the Rift, and all my attention is focused on tugging it open. I miss the look on his face when I respond in elven.  
A large form begins materializing out of white green light, and eventually solidifies, becoming a huge mass of purples and greys. It looks up, eyes locking on my hand as it begins laughing. /alarm/danger/PRIDE/ echoes out from the base of my skull, and my mind is flooded with imagery of lightning and claws.  
Cassandra belows a loud, “Now!” and charges forwards with a war cry, distracting the beast. Solas pushes me behind him as he begins casting, Ice whipping out of his staff faster than even the crossbow bolts Bianca fires from my side.  
The rest of the fight is a blur. It comes in flashes of moments. Ducking behind rocks, rolling out  
“We must strip its defenses! Wear it down!” as Solas ushers me behind a large rock. The Pride Demon laughs as it swings at soldiers.  
“Quickly! Disrupt the rift!” After the demon takes down a soldier with one sweep of it’s claws, the body flying to the left, sword clattering to the ground.  
“The demon is vulnerable – now!” is shouted after I connect with the rift, tugging at it’s centre and distracting the demon somehow.  
“More coming through the rift!” A large, humanoid snake thing focusing in on me, and ducking, dodging, weaving constantly, trying my hardest to disrupt the rift as I slash and hack at the enemy floating around me.  
“Now! Seal the rift!” My hand connects to the rift with much more certainty. It’s almost overwhelming, how much energy is coursing between me and the rift, and in the back of my head comes /fear/whatareyoudoing/DANGER/  
The fighting around me has stopped. The large demon dead, the archers taking out the rest of the stragglers, people staring, Cassandra commanding, Varric worrying, Solas watching.  
“Do it!”  
Energy whips out from my hand, forcing me backwards against a wall, hard, and I smash my head as I hit the ground. I watch a large surge of white-green energy surge upwards towards the Breach, and my vision begins to fade. Solas’ face appears above me, haloed by the Breach as the surge connects, a large boom echoes out, and my vision jolts to a bright white.  
Then everything is dark, and I slip away.

\--------------------------

FAUNRAS

In the morning, Manon walked, hand firmly in mine, sightless eyes drifting ever so slightly to the left, as we hiked up the side of a cliff, hoping to find any sign of a town, or even just a house. It took us a couple of hours to find a solid path and make our way up, so we made do with Elven lessons and word games. When we reached the top, I spotted a couple faint smoke trails clustered together. It seemed like a town, but i couldn't see any more details due to the numerous trees and hills spread over the landscape.

“There’s a town, i think, in the distance Manon,” I begin, looking down at my daughter as she tilts her face towards me, unseeing eyes staring to my right, but still listening intently.

“It looks like it’ll take the rest of the day or so to walk, give or take. We’re going to break for lunch, then head down and towards the town. We should be able to reach it just after sunset.”

Her red hair bounces slightly as she nods, and as she eats i take the opportunity to brush through it and put it in her customary twin braids, twined tightly to the side of her head behind her short wood elf ears, and then hanging down the fronts of her shoulders to about her waist. Her bangs, grown out to be long, fall over her eyes and down her face, loose as she prefers. And I brush them up and back to place two kisses to her scarred eyelids, shut over damaged watery grey blue eyes, because this is done often and she knows to close her eyes.

By the time lunch is over, I’ve cuddled and kissed every inch of Manon’s little face, and she’s relaxed enough to hold onto my coat tail as we walk, leaving my hands free to mark landmarks and draw a rough map as we go.

Helping Manon over a small stream, stepping across using several large stones, has her giggling as water trickles past her toes, bare as always. As we reach the otherside, however, I freeze, My long, distinctive Eladrin ear twitching towards the faint sounds of fighting coming from our left. It’s not in the way that we need to be headed, but it’s near enough to our path that I lead us wide, around the fight and keeping a sharp ear out for any sign of the fight coming towards us.

Just before the sun sets I decide not to not risk running into whoever the combatants were. That small detour had set us back maybe an hour, and I really didn't want to run into any bandits. I set us up under the Hearth, an illusioned dome that enemies subconsciously recognize, then forget and leave alone. This time, I don’t meditate. I take a short, hour long rest and keep watch, tending to our small fire as Manon sleeps curled up in my lap. Wolves howl close by, closer than I’d like, and so the rest of the night is watching for them.

Waking Manon this morning is a bit of a task. The days finally catching up to her, and I decided to let her rest. Carrying her on my hip as she sleeps a bit longer, her face buried in the crook of my neck. We approach the town like that, an hour or so later. I found a small outcropping nearby, settling my daughter down to sleep as I observed the townspeople. Mostly human, some elves. All with brown or blonde colouring however, which meant my own blue hair would stand out starkly. Fishing out an Amulet of Disguise from my bag, thankful for having it, I key the appearance to faintly match all 3 of my kids, Manon’s eye shape, brows and nose, Isolde’s beautiful Purple/Grey eyes, and Ryker’s chocolatey curls, though he normally keeps his hair shorn close to his scalp to avoid having to deal with said curls, mine I let settle around my shoulders.

I woke Manon up and helped her change into her plainer faded blue dress, brown leggings, matching boots, and a dark grey half cape. I changed into my spare set of travellers clothes, brown walking boots, slate grey leggings, and light blue long sleeve tunic that falls halfway down my thighs, cinched at the waist with a leather belt riddled with pouches, and matching three quarter cape, with a hood. A dagger strapped to my side and my Focus atop my shirt, the Twisted Antler Deer totem is easy to grab and begin casting if need be. I am so thankful that I had her old clothes buried in my bag. They still fir her, they were just a bit too worn.

Taking a deep breath, I sling my bag back over my shoulder, taking Manon’s hand in mine as I lead us into the Town ahead.

Honestly, How I missed the giant statue was beyond me. We passed many people, who all looked us over, eyes narrowed in suspicion as we walked past. First things first. Food. I need to find some sort of merchant or hunter and see what the food arrangements in this place are. There are many tents and make-shift cots set up around the fields, next to crumbling half walls. There are four huts, all at varying heights, standing upon stone foundations. I zeroed in on a man sitting next to a cart. There were a couple blades on display, but I was interested more in the food stored in sacks and barrels behind the cart.

Keeping a tight grip on Manon’s hand, I quickly walked up to, hopefully, the merchant, who had caught on to my intent of shopping.

“How much for the food? And what have you got? I need a couple days worth of ration packs if you have any.” Giving the man my most winning smile, I asked after everything I needed as I fished my money pouch out.

“Ah..” He seemed sad for a moment, eyeing my little girl, causing me to pull Manon behind me a bit, my smile becoming strained as he looked back up at me. “ I’m afraid all the food I have is to be distributed at the afternoon meals, along with whatever Adahl brings in, the refugees are putting a strain on our resources.” He winces as he eyes me, “I’m sorry Miss, but..” The young merchant trails off slightly, becoming awkward in the face of my now neutral expression, before gathering his courage again, “Adahl is up by the Hunter’s Lodge, if you talk to him he might be able to help..?”

“Right, My thanks.” I turned without another word, but stopped, eyeing him up, taking in his haggard clothes, and sunken, thinning face. Sighing, I fished out a gold and handed it over, asking “Which hut is the Hunter’s Lodge then?”

The poor man’s eyes lit up at the sight of the coin, accepting it and eagerly pointing out the way. It didn’t take long to find Adahl. Sat as he was by the fire beside the Lodge, eyeing a large hunk of meat roasting on the spit.

“Would you be Adahl?”

The man looks up. He’s human, has to be, with the wider nose and rounded eyes, brown, to match the thin mustache and beard, both closely cropped to his face. The rest of his head is covered by a hood and leather face guard, connected to simple hide armor as he kneels by the fire, stoking it.

“Aye,” he grunts as he stands, “I be he. What can I help you with?” He eyes my clothes, ill-suited for survival outside of a town, and frowned, moving his eyes back to mine. 

“Food,” I state, drawing Manon out from behind me and smoothing her hair back slightly,  
“Shelter as well. I’m willing to work. I can be a deft huntress and I know how to skin and prepare a fresh kill for food.” I smile a bit grimly at Adahl, who opens his mouth to protest before I interrupt once again.

“Two hunter’s will fare better than one, ser.”

Adahl pauses at that, stroking his mustache as he thinks.

“Alright, but you, my lady, are on a trial run. We will house you for a week, in that week, you will hunt just as much as I. My wife will care for the little lady, and you will bring in as much food as you can. You may keep the hides and skins if you’d like, but you must share the meat of whatever kill you make.” He keeps his eyes on me, and I nod my agreement.

“What of shelter, ser? I asked for that as well.”

“You may set up on our spare cot. Our son has gone off to another town with his wife, and the cot is open to you.”

Manon surprises me as she reaches a tentative hand forward and walks towards the sound of Adahl’s voice. He looks at me before reaching his own, larger, much more callous hand out towards her and catching her hand gently. A bright smile lights up my daughter’s face.

“Thank you, Mister Adahl!”

\--------------------------------------

RYKER

I hate the rain. It’s what wakes me up, ander a weird, dormant tear in the sky, my bag wrapped awkwardly around my arm, and my family nowhere near me. My options are to be frustrated and hate the rain, or panic about not knowing where my family is, and I choose the first option. From the top of my skull I can feel /RainIsHorrendous/DamnTheWeather/WhyAreWeHere/ in one breath and in the next /FamilyIsGone/FarAway/Alive/FARAWAY/. The Sun Father never was particularly patient.

So here I am, after running away from the rift, which had, by the way, jolted awake and began summoning weird lava snake things. I had run from them, feeling the overwhelming rage pouring off them as they slithered closer, the matching hear nearly burning me, was enough to chase me off.

My feet have sand sticking to them, and small rocks on this particularly rocky coastline make it hard to move quickly and quietly. Luckily, the things seem to be stuck near the Tear, and don’t follow me more than a few feet. Even as they retreat though, I’m getting /Rage/Demon/WhyAreTheyHere/ from my head, and images of lava, fire, and solid punches that steal your breath, and enrage you at the same time.

There is a cave up ahead, and the sky is getting darker, not really helped at all by the constant storm that seems to be ever raging. It is, luckily, an empty cave, and I hole up a few feet from the entrance, just enough to keep the light near me as I dig through my soaked bag, hoping for my tinderbox.

The seal on it is broken, and it and everything in the box, as well as all my supplies, food, extra clothes, MY BLANKET.

This is going to be a long night.

The storm is still raging and it’s still raining. I leave the cave, striking out back along the coast to try and find a way up the cliff face and to the forest I can just barely see over the clifftop. I can hunt in a forest, and I know my food supply is running low. But as I walk, I think of my family, and get distracted from my searching. I walk right into an ambush, several odd looking people jumping out at me, shouting and attacking with magic as they push me back a large piece of driftwood.

It’s all I can do just to dodge the attacks, strike at assassins appearing from nowhere and keep myself alive. I call sunfire to my hands and fight as best I can, keeping a distance between me and the blades, but I can’t do it forever. I change my stance, widening my feet, and spread my hands outwards, my thumbs just barely touching as I throw Ki into powering a Searing Arc, sunfire bursting forward in a radiant arc, burning several of those in front of me, but only downing one of the spellcasters. 

Then a loud horn rings out and I hear a shout.

“CHARGERS! HORNS UP!”

A large grey man wielding a double headed axe charges into the fray, swinging wildly, and an astounding mix of people race forwards with an echoing cry of “HORNS UP!” in return.  
An elven lady with a large bow fires some kind of magical bolt in the shape on an arrow, the crystal a top glowing brilliantly. A dwarf throws some kind of sap on the ground and drops a spark on it, dashing away at the subsequent explosion that rocks the ground and catches another rogue.

Everything is fighting and battle, and I help my new allies as best I can, throwing Radiant Sun Bolts as far as I could reach, and Stunning as many as I could, helping set up devastating blows with the particularly large, horned, grey man. He doesn’t quite look like a tiefling, besides the horns, and he isn’t using any of the innate magical abilities they have, so I hesitate to actually call him one.

In my distraction and exhaustion though, the last assassin manages to get up behind me. I feel the dagger slide into my back, and cry out in pain as it’s twisted to the side and wrenched out. I collapse, and as I fall to the ground, I can hear the furious bellows of the odd bunch that attempted to save me.

I vaguely feel hands press against me, one on my shoulder, the other on my back, and something liquid is forced down my throat. My last thought is of my family, my Mamae and baby sisters. I can hear a voice distantly, one I almost think is my father, but no, he had left a long time ago.

“Kid, hey, kid!”

“Stay awake, you hear me??”

/BOYNO/THEYAREHELPING/STAYAWAKE!/DONTYOUDAREDIE/

I’m picked up by large hands, and everything goes dark.

**Author's Note:**

> So, officially made changes.
> 
> -Faunras is much more of a mother figure to the kids.  
> -The kids ages have all been adjusted. Manon is the equivalent of a 7 year old, Isolde is roughly matching 13, and Ryker has just hit his majority, which is about 18. In elven years for the dnd world, that technically means 45 ish, 80 ish, and 120 thereabouts.  
> -Most of our family is separated! I put in so many P.O.V changes in this chapter to establish who's where, but from now on it'll be a bit more limited.  
> -Isolde is our lovely Herald here, instead of my baby Kaaras Adaar. There's a bit of a time discrepancy, but that'll be answered in a later chapter! Kaaras and all the other potential inquisitors are still around, we'll be seeing them soon ;)  
> -I've given the Hunter at the crossroads a name, slightly changed description, and a wife/vaguely mentioned and not really relevant son.
> 
> Thank you for reading! If you see something about the lore that I get wrong, please leave a comment below!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
